The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an insulation displacement connector for flat cables.
Mass termination techniques utilizing insulation displacement connectors have become commonplace throughout the industry. Such techniques allow rapid interconnections to be made between the conductors of a flat cable and the contacts of the connector by simply clamping the cable between the connector cap and housing thereby forcing the cable conductors into slots in the contacts. Generally, the termination ends of the contacts are in the form of slotted plates. The slotting of the contact plate provides what might be considered to be a double tine termination system in which each tine of the slotted contact is located on opposite sides of the cable conductor.
In order to facilitate the connecting of the contacts to closely spaced conductors in a flat cable, the contacts are generally mounted in two rows with the contacts in one row staggered with respect to the contacts in the other row. Connectors having contacts arranged in this fashion are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,820,055; 4,068,912 and 4,118,096.
Recently, flat cables have become available in which the conductors are spaced apart only 0.025 inch. Because of the width of the tines of the contacts, and the very close spacing of the contacts required by the close spacing of the conductors, it becomes very difficult to feed alternate conductors of the cable between the contacts in one row to the contacts in the second row of contacts for termination thereto. As a consequence, occasionally the feedthrough conductors of the flat cable become shorted by the contacts in the first row.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned problem of shorting of feedthrough conductors of a flat cable utilized with an insulation displacement connector even when the spacing between the contacts is very small.